09 Jul astronomy project

Goal

The goal of this project is to observe and follow the heavenly beauty by being more vigilant to the sky, space, and surroundings.

Description

Make the limitless sky your playground! Spot and shoot photographs (or make drawings) of an object or events in the sky. You can choose from the list given below. Use your cell phone cameras to take photos. For the better results you may like to use a fancier camera, such as DSLR if you own one. This is also an opportunity to take out the telescope if you have one (sometimes sitting in your closet for a long timeJ). Feel free to involve your friends, siblings, parents, spouses, kids, any family members, or even neighbors to rejoice the boundless sky this summer. Of course, do not forget to take the necessary safety (social distancing and others) precautions as needed.

Here is the list from which you can select an object/event to observe.

• The Moon: Easy to spot. See what side of the Moon is lit. Figure out if it is a waxing cycle or waning. Follow it for next two to three weeks. Take photos or make drawings in a notebook with proper dates and times.
• Evening planet: Mars and Venus are the only planets that will be easily visible for a few hours after the Sunset. Follow the red planet Mars for next two to three weeks. Observe what are the constellations or bright stars near it and how it changes its locations from one week to another. After a few days of observations, you should be able to figure out if it is going through prograde or retrograde motion. Mercury is also visible around the same time, but would be hard to detect as it stays pretty close to the Sun
• Morning planets: If you are an early riser, try to spot Jupiter and Saturn in the eastern sky an hour or so before the Sunrise. Follow them in the predawn sky for next two to three weeks. Notice how their relative positions change with respect to each other, some bright stars, or a building. Jupiter will start rising before midnight after June 21st.
• Constellations: Challenge yourself to spot as many constellations as you can. Figure out one prominent constellation and hop from there to other constellations. This is called stars hoping. Take the pictures (or make drawings) of one or two constellations. Notice how its position changes throughout the night and also from one week to next with respect to a stationary building, tree, or pole.
• Sunset or sunrise: If you want to observe the sunset (or sunrise), follow it for a few days and notice how its location changes along the horizon. Draw these in a writing book or take photographs with respect to a stationary object, such as a building or a tree. (Caution: Do not look at the Sun directly when it is up high.)
• Zodiacal Lights: Triangular shape spread of diffused light in the sky after the Sunset. Observe it for two to three weeks. Notice how easy or hard to observe it, how its shape/strength changes over time. If you do not know what Zodiacal light is, explore the web or the following link. (   and   )
• Atmospheric phenomena: The rain, clouds, and long summer days provide you frequent opportunities to photograph events such as moon halo, sun halo, sundog, rainbows, sliver clouds, red clouds, orange horizon, noctilucent clouds, cumulonimbus clouds, crepuscular rays, and anti-crepuscular rays. Try to photograph 4-5 phenomena in next few weeks.
• International Space Station: You can even try to spot the International Space Station ( ). You can sign up to get notifications about the ISS visibility at your location. You may not be able to photograph ISS though as it moves across pretty fast. You can try to videograph it.

Instruction for submission

Post the photos, videos, and/or drawings of your chosen object/s with one page report. The photos/drawings should have dates, time and location (name of the place). You can use power point, word document, or google doc to write the report. If you do not want to write, you can even make a video to explain. The report is basically your reflection of the experience of project. Include the following points in your report/reflection. How easy or challenging was it to spot your chosen object/events? How and from where did you observe? How did you feel while observing? What was your feeling before starting the project? Were you nervous, stressed, or excited? How do you feel now when the project has ended? How accurate you think you are in your drawings? What did you learn? Did you use any App? What was the most interesting or memorable moment? Did you involve your family or friends in this project? What was their reaction? Any other comments, suggestions, ideas, feelings?

Note 1: There are many free Astronomy Apps available. You are allowed to use any to locate the objects. Feel free to submit comparison between the images on the app and in the real sky as a part of your assignment.

Note 2: If the photos of the objects in your cell phone cameras come out to be too small, that’s okay. Do not worry; just post them as it is. To get the larger photos you need telescopes or DSLR cameras.  

Note 3: Make the observation for next three weeks. You do not have to do so every day. You can observe every other day or every two-three days at a specific time for next 2-3 weeks. Do not worry if there are some cloudy and rainy days in between. Most of the nights will be clear.

Here are some useful links to explore the June-July 2021sky.